The Vaccines – Jack Daniels Birthday Competition and Free Download

Exciting news from The Vaccines on two fronts today. I have been a big fan of The Vaccines since they were the first ever band to appear on Later With Jools Holland before releasing a single.

Having then bought their debut single and album I was lucky enough to be bobbing down the front of the mosh pit in the Big Top at The Isle of Wight Festival 2011 where they drew the biggest crowd of the festival. Their top five debut album ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines’ was crammed with a winning blend of surf rock, indie anthems and rock ‘n roll.

In truth, it has been pretty hard not to have seen The Vaccines in the last eighteen months if you have been anywhere near a European festival. They must be one of the hardest working bands out there. I bumped into them again when they supported Arcade Fire at Hyde Park and The Arctic Monkeys at The O2 last year, and when they returned to The Isle of Wight Festival in 2012 on the Main Stage supporting Noel Gallagher and Bruce Springsteen they won many friends.

They finished 2011 with a new B-side (Tiger Blood) produced by The Strokes’ Albert Hammond and capped this off by winning Best New Band at the NME Awards in January of 2012. They then supported The Stone Roses at their first UK outdoor shows in Heaton Park and have their next album, ‘The Vaccines Come Of Age’ set for a September 2012 release.

So what better way to celebrate all that success by playing a gig down a cave?

Yes – I can think of plenty of ways also – but on the other hand it sounds like it might be fun – and you can try to win tickets to see them for free! This is all in conjunction with the people from Jack Daniels.

The birthday celebrations of Mr Jack occur in September each year, and these celebrations in 2012 will culminate in a unique party on 6th October at the stunning setting of The Devil’s Arse in Castleton set in the Peak District which is the site of the largest cave entrance in the UK.

It also happens to be a venue where I enjoyed a school trip when I was seven years old. I won’t bore you with the details, and they certainly didn’t call it The Devil’s Arse back then (can’t imagine the junior school-teachers being happy with that) but I do remember getting to an apparently bottomless pit on a boat propelled by a bloke pushing the boat forward with his feet on the ceiling of the cave, and picking up some of the local Blue John – a semi-precious stone. It’ll be interesting to see how the road crew get the band’s equipment through there…

I just bored you with the details didn’t I? Sorry about that.

Because all of Jack’s famous Whiskey is crafted using Cave Spring water that flows at their distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, celebrating Jack’s Birthday in a cave seems like the right thing to do. And who am I to argue? The Vaccines will be supported by Mystery Jets and Tribes.

You can enter the competition on the band’s Facebook page from the 1st September – and the link is here:

The other bit of news is a free EP of cover versions (including an Abba song – The Winner Takes It All) that the band has made available here and is called the Please, Please Do Not Disturb EP. It sounds like they recorded it in a hotel room, perhaps explaining the title…

Be quick – the last time they had a free download it didn’t stay up there for long…

Great stuff, I love everything that The Vaccines have done so far! Thanks for the link to the free download, I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise – never thought I’d hear The Vaccines cover ABBA haha!